We Have No Choice To Stay
by ThatPotterheadTimelord
Summary: Dan had been the outcast at Charleston Academy for the three years he had been there. Then, one day he's left to stand up for the new kid, and they sort of hit it off. But there's more to him than those striking blue eyes and gorgeous smile, and Dan's in a lot deeper than he thinks. Phan, a bit of crude language, nothing too violent.
1. Chapter 1

I woke up to the sound of the 'wake up' alarm that rang every morning at 7. I sat up in bed.

"Great, Monday," I mumbled to myself.

I stood up and got changed into the clothes that were folded at the end of my bed. White button-up shirt, black jeans and a tie that I absolutely hated wearing, but had to. I left my pyjamas scattered on the floor.

I took a quick look in the cracked mirror leaning against the wall.

I decided against doing anything with my hair. It didn't matter really.

I walked out the door into the hallway. I was one of only 25 kids who went here. Some were ready and already headed downstairs, others only just leaving their rooms. I followed the small crowd down a flight of stairs, around a corner and into a rather large dining hall, where we went every morning.

There was a table set up near the door with an assortment of breakfast foods. I grabbed an apple and walked across the room to a table where I always sat.

I didn't really have any friends here, so I usually sat alone. It didn't really bother me.

Except this time there was someone else sitting at the table. I hadn't seen him before. He was staring at his hands which were clenched tightly together on the table.

I sat down across from him.

"Hi," I said.

He slowly looked up. He must have been about my age. He had black hair that swept across his forehead. And his eyes. They... intrigued me, for some reason.

"Hi" his voice was barely audible.

I cleared my throat. "I'm Dan," I tried smiling, but it felt uncomfortable.

He didn't reply for a while.

"Phil," he said eventually.

And nothing else was said for 15 minutes. Instead, we sat in uncomfortable silence until the alarm went off again, signalling the start of classes.

He stood up before I did, nodded, and walked off. I was going to walk after him, but decided against it.

I stood up and headed out the doors into the 'school yard', which was just a big slab of concrete with a basketball hoop at one end. The 'school yard' connected the boarding rooms and the classrooms.

I walked into the other building and headed to my first class.

I opened the door marked with a '6'. English class.

Although there were only 26 kids here, boys and girls had separate classes. I don't know why.

There were already 4 others in the room. 4, including the boy from breakfast.

He was sitting in the desk in the back corner, with his head down. I walked over and sat in the desk next to him. He turned his head a bit to look at me, before quickly looking back down.

It was probably just my imagination, but I thought I saw him smile.

After 5 minutes or so, and all 13, now 14, students were sitting in their seats, our teacher, Mr Cook, who also taught every other class for the boys, entered. He had red hair that stuck up in all directions, and he looked very young to be a teacher, especially here.

He took attendance and looked around the room, his eyes falling on Phil.

"It seems we have a new student!" he said, causing the black haired boy to look up.

Everyone in the classroom turned around in their seats to look at Phil. I could see his cheeks turn red, and his hands started shaking slightly.

Of course, Mr Cook pushed further. "Did you want to come up and introduce yourself?"

Phil, now looking terrified, slowly started to stand up in his seat. He held his arms by his side, his fists clenched so tightly his knuckles turned white. He walked towards the blackboard at the front of the classroom. Mr Cool handed him a piece of white chalk.

"Would you like to write your name on the board?"

Sometimes I felt like this place treated us like 5 year olds.

Phil pressed the chalk to the board, but his hands were shaking too much that he couldn't write at first. I could see him take a deep breath, before slowly running the chalk against the board.

'Phil Lester', he wrote, before quickly turning around and hurrying back to his desk. This caused a few giggles around the room.

I actually felt bad for him.

"Well, Phil. Welcome to Charleston." Mr Cook said with a smile, oblivious to what he'd just put that boy through.

I turned to look at Phil. He had his arms folded on the desk, his head resting on his arms. He was muttering something to himself, although I couldn't quite hear what he was saying.

Mr Cook went on with the lesson. Something about a novel which was written decades ago.

But I wasn't paying attention. I kept thinking about the boy next to me.

He intrigued me for some reason. I wanted to know more about him.

I might actually have someone worth talking to in this goddamn place, seeing as everyone either annoys me or doesn't like me.

The lesson finally ended with the sharp burst of the alarm. Once again, Phil had pretty much left the room before I had a chance to stand up.

We had a half hour break between each class.

I walked outside into the school yard. You could really tell it was winter. Frost was covering the concrete ground, and it was freezing. Something I didn't notice this morning.

I saw Phil sitting against the wall of the school building, a few metres away.

I shoved my hands in my pockets and walked over to him.

"Hey," I said. He didn't reply.

I sat down next to him. There were a few other guys attempting to play basketball, except the only sporting equipment this place has is a couple of deflated soccer balls. Other than them, we were the only ones outside. Phil was staring off into... somewhere. I followed his gaze to the north side of the school yard, where you could see a park, I guess you could call it. It looked nice. Trees and birds and stuff. I guess it would look a lot nicer, though, if there wasn't a 3 metre tall electric fence in the way.

The fence surrounded the entire facility. There was only one entrance and exit, and that was near the small office next to the boarder rooms. And it was always guarded. Security cameras, alarms, everything.

Phil sighed, his breath forming a cloud because of the cold air.

"Why are we here Dan?" It was the first time I'd heard him say something without whispering.

I knew why I was here. My parents thought I was mental. I believed them.

I shrugged.

"It's cause we're weird, isn't it?" He turned his head to look at me.

"I guess," I answered, meeting his gaze.

He turned back away, so he was looking back across the school yard.

I did the same.

By now, the others must have given up trying to play basketball and gone inside. We were the only ones in the school yard.

A breeze blew past, causing a shiver down my spine.

I stood up.

"It's freezing out here. Come on inside." I held out my hand for Phil. He took it and I pulled him up.

He nodded, and we started to walk towards the boarders building.

The dining hall was alive with chatter. Conversations and laughter filled the room.

Every table was occupied, except for the one at the back where I usually sat alone. Except I wouldn't be alone this time. I followed Phil to the table and sat across from him.

A scrunched up piece of paper came flying across the room and hit Phil in the eye.

"Shit!" He held his hand to his eye and put his head down on the desk.

I stood up and turned around.

A group of guys a few tables away were staring, laughing.

Ever since I got here, I hated them and they hated me.

"Hey! The fuck man?" I said, taking a step closer to their table.

One of them, Jack, stood up and walked towards me.

"What? Standing up for your boyfriend?"

A crowd had formed around us. Fights were good entertainment around here, and it was usually me and Jack.

"Dickhead," I grabbed the collar of his shirt, raising a fist.

He didn't even blink. Instead he just smirked.

"You still actually think you can beat me in a fight?" He shoved me off him. "I always win, Dan. You know that."

I swung at him, but he dodged it, and punched me in the stomach.

I fell to the floor.

"Smash his head in, Jack!" Jack's 'minion', Dean, was standing at the front of the crowd.

I stood up, about to try and punch him again, when someone grabbed my wrist. I turned around, and Phil was standing there, his right eye a little red. He shook his head slightly. "Dan, please don't" he whispered.

I looked back at Jack, who was laughing to himself.

I wanted to listen to Phil, because I never won these fights, but I wanted to punch Jack even more.

I swung once more at Jack, but he threw his fist at my face before I did.

I clutched my face in my hands. Phil grabbed my sleeve and pulled me out of the fight before I could do anything else. He started to lead me out of the dining hall.

"Faggot!" I heard Jack scream out as I left. But the door already closed, so I couldn't do anything.

Phil made me sit down on the floor in the hallway. I could hear the cheers on the other side of the door.

Phil pulled my hands away from my face. They were covered in blood, and I could feel more dripping down my chin. Phil pulled a few tissues out of his pocket and handed them to me. I held my nose. It hurt like hell.

"Sorry," was all I could say.

He just shrugged.

Once I was sure the bleeding had stopped, I pulled the now red tissue away from my nose. He handed me some more and I wiped the blood off of my hands and face.

I chucked them into the bin next to the door.

"How bad is it?" I asked.

He looked up at me.

"A few bruises, maybe a broken nose. Be best if you didn't get into more fights though." He smiled at me. And I smiled back. It felt less forced than when I tried at breakfast. Except my face hurt when I did, so I stopped.

It was weird, but Phil made me feel better. More comfortable. I hadn't felt this close to someone since my parents... well.

And I hadn't actually had a real friend before. And to me it was an exciting concept.

Even though we had only spoken a few sentences to each other, I felt almost happy around him.

And I hadn't felt happy in a long time.

* * *

**A/N: Hiya! I have decided to write another story, as well as Hearts Keep Beating, because I want to. **

**This one will be updated at least every three days, I hope. Because the chapters are going to be a lot longer and I get writers block often.**

**So, yeah! I'll keep you updated and stuff. **

**Until next time, enjoy your fanfiction**

**~Chelsea :) xx**


	2. Chapter 2

I had to go to the school nurse to get my nose fixed up. She said it was broken and I had to wear this bandage over it. I didn't like the bandage, but I got to skip maths class, so it was a win-win situation really. Phil sat outside the sick bay as the nurse fixed me up and asked me questions about how it happened. I told her I ran into a door. I didn't want the school knowing I was getting into fights. Not since last time...

The rest of the day consisted of boring classes that I didn't pay attention to anyway. I sat next to Phil in each one. He mostly just looked out the window and sighed occasionally.

Four more lessons and breaks spent outside because Phil didn't want me going near Jack again. He would have picked on me about the bandage and start another fight. But it was even colder than earlier and it was horrible.

The final bell went off for the end of school. Phil started to walk out of the classroom. I suddenly remembered something.

"Wait," I called out after him. He turned around. "Come on, we have hours until curfew. May as well do something." He smiled and I walked past him, towards the back of the school building. He followed close behind me.

"Where are we going?" he asked. I could tell by his voice that he was excited.

"Just wait, you'll see."

Three years ago, when my parents dropped me off here, I used to be alone all of the time. Everyone else seemed to have a friend group and I just didn't. And so I would spend afternoons looking around the two buildings for something to do. I wasn't stopped by anyone, so they either didn't know I was there or they just didn't care that much.

I was walking around the back of the school building one day, where no one ever goes and there's just a bunch of brooms and cobwebs, and I noticed there was a door that was almost invisible because it was the same colour as the wall. I would have walked right by it if I didn't see the dent in the wall that served as a handle.

Anyway, being me, I had to find out what it was. Fortunately for me, it wasn't locked. The room must have been a disused classroom or something. There were guitars leaning against one wall, some missing strings, and a piano up the front of the room. It also had a few couches up the back and a small bookcase that was filled with mostly old novels and sheet music.

I had learned piano when I was younger. My teachers told me I was brilliant at it. I played at school assemblies a lot. But I hadn't played since...

Phil followed me to the back of the school where the room was. I stopped and opened the door and we went inside. I hadn't really been there for a while, so it was nice to see it again. And I thought I may as well bring Phil.

"Cool, huh?" I said.

"Yeah," came his reply.

I went and sat down at the piano, motioning for him to come sit next to me. He did. I opened the lid of the piano and cracked my knuckles. I saw him cringe.

"Sorry, bad habit." He shrugged in reply.

I took a deep breath and started to play. It was a tune that my music teacher at my old school taught me. She said it was the one I was best at.

It felt good to play piano again. The music echoed throughout the room. I watched my fingers seemed to dance up and down the piano, I realised that I had missed that.

I finished the song and slowly shut the piano again. I looked up at Phil.

"Wow," he said, looking at the piano and then back at me. "That was..." his sentence trailed off.

"What?" I asked.

"That was amazing!" His smile was bigger than I had seen it on him before. I couldn't help but smile back when I saw it, although smiling made my nose ache.

"Where'd you learn to play like that?" Phil asked.

"At my old school I used to take piano lessons. I would spend every lunchtime practising with my teacher." I stood up from the piano stool and Phil did the same.

"So how did you find this place?" Phil moved over to the couch area at the back of the room. I followed him and we sat down.

"I don't know, I was just looking around one day and I ended up here."

He nodded. "Cool."

The next few minutes passed in silence.

"Hey, we better get back to the dining hall. There's supervision there at dinner so it's pretty safe to go." I stood up and so did Phil. And we walked back out of the room and headed towards the dining hall.

Inside, everyone was at their tables, having their own conversations. It was quieter than this morning. I guess that's to do with the 'supervisors' standing at points around the room. We walked over to the serving table and each took a bowl filled with what looked like vomit (a speciality at this place, surprisingly good) and went to sit down at our table.

Phil looked at the bowl in front of him.

"Is this even edible?" he asked, prodding it with a spoon.

I smiled. "Hey, can't knock it till you try it." I said as I ate a spoonful.

He lifted the spoon up to his mouth and hesitated before eating it.

He swallowed and shrugged. "Not bad. Not great either. What's it made of?"

"I actually have no idea." He pushed the bowl away and I laughed, causing my nose to hurt. He laughed too. We stopped when we saw the people at other tables looking at us. We noticed that most of the hall was quiet besides us.

Uncomfortable silence.

"Having fun with your boyfriend Danny?" I turned in my seat to look at Jack, who was standing up at his table. I saw that most of the 'supervisors' had left, and there was only Mr Cook and some other guy standing at the back of the room, lost in their own conversation.

I stood up. "Oh, real bloody mature."

"Dan, don't be stupid. You've already got your nose broken today." I turned to look at Phil. He was right. I almost sat back down, but Jack was already walking across the hall. I took a deep breath and looked him in the eye.

"I'm not going to fight, Jack." He smiled.

"What? It's not like I could mess your face up even more."

I had to force myself to calm down. Mr Cook was now the only adult in the room. I could see him watching us. I know I would get the blame for a fight.

I looked back at Jack. He was standing with his arms folded, that stupid smirk on his face. He wanted me to hit him. He wanted me to get in trouble again.

I knew I couldn't give him the satisfaction.

I gritted my teeth. "Come on Phil." I said, pushing past Jack and the small crowd that had formed.

I walked through the building until I got to my boarding room and opened the door. Phil followed me inside.

I closed the door and kicked it. My foot hurt but I didn't care.

I sat down on the edge of the bed and put my head down, gripping my hair hard until my head started to throb.

Phil sat next to me.

"Look, Dan. You just gotta learn to ignore him."

"You think I don't try?" I sat up straight and looked at Phil. "You think it's easy to ignore him when he does it every fucking day?" I realised I was shouting, so I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. "I'm sorry, it's just hard for me."

I felt Phil's hand on my shoulder.

"It's just really hard for me." I repeated.

There was a moments silence before Phil asked, "Is that why you're here." I looked at him. "Unless it's not- I mean, if you don't want to talk about it-"

"No, it's fine." I cut him off. "And yeah, it is." I tried smiling at him, because he looked almost upset, but it felt weird, so I stopped.

It was why I was here. My parents had enough of me getting into trouble at school.

I got expelled 4 times because I kept getting into fights. I always got picked on at school, and I was never the one to start the fights. I never wanted to, anyway. But the blame was always put on me. And it got worse over time because they knew they could blame it on me. Some of them were risking their teeth just to get me in trouble. And for some reason I couldn't just walk away. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't stop myself from fighting back. And so, I kept getting into fights, kept getting in trouble at school, and my parents kept getting so pissed off at me that they sent me here. They thought it would help to calm me down. They thought I wouldn't get into more fights. But, no. There was Jack and his stupid gang who beat me up every day and kept blaming it on me.

And one day, when we were in one of those fights, I managed to knock him out. I don't know how, because he was a lot stronger than me, but I did. And the headmaster found out and put me in 'lock down' for being too violent.

I had to spend a week in this weird room. I couldn't do anything except sit and think.

And so now I never fought when there were adults around. He usually doesn't either, because he's pretty satisfied just getting to beat me up, but there have been exceptions...

And so I've been stuck here for 3 years. No friends. Beaten up everyday. I only get to see my parents twice a year.

Even here I'm an outcast.

"Dan," I was snapped out of my thoughts by Phil's voice.

I blinked a few times. "Oh, sorry.. what were you saying?"

"Um, I was going to go back to my room. I'm really tired."

"Oh, yeah, sure." I smiled and he stood up off the bed and left, giving me a small wave as he did.

I stood up to go get changed. My pyjamas had obviously been folded, but had fallen off the bed.

I got changed and threw my uniform on the floor and looked in the mirror. I hadn't actually seen how bad my nose was. The nurse said I had to take off the bandage tonight and put on a new one. I ripped the old one off. My nose was completely purple and had swollen to about twice it's size, and it was cut open at the top. It looked really weird. I took the fresh bandage from the pocket of the pants I had strewn across the floor and put it on.

"Great, I have to look like this for the next month." I mumbled to myself.

I threw myself down on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. It was actually like a prison cell in that room. The bare brick walls, the crappy lights that kept flickering, the mattress that had springs poking out of it that make it near impossible to sleep on.

I bet Hell would have been more enjoyable.

* * *

**A/N: Yay second chapter! **

**Um, yeah... woohoo.**

**I have nothing to say. **

**Thanks for reviewing and everything. You're all amazing! **

**Until next time, enjoy your fanfiction**

**~Chelsea :) xx**


	3. Chapter 3

I woke up the next day before the alarm went off. I lied in bed for a while, but I couldn't get back to sleep. I got up and picked up yesterday's uniform from the floor. I stripped my pyjamas and got changed, leaving them strewn across the bed, and left the room.

There was only two other people in the dining hall, sitting at a table playing some sort of card game. I grabbed an apple and went to sit down at my table.

Ten minutes passed before the alarm went off and more people started to file in, Phil being one of the first. He grabbed a bread roll of the table and came to sit down. He looked tired, but so did most of the people in the room.

"Why are you up so early?" he asked, ripping a bit off his roll and putting it in his mouth.

I shrugged. "I couldn't sleep."

He nodded. "How's your nose doing?"

"Hurts like hell," I said.

I heard a sort of half-chuckle. "Yeah, well it should."

I rolled my eyes. "So much for compassion,"

He laughed, genuinely smiling as he did. It was nice, his smile. It sort of made me feel better, just him being there. Like I actually had someone, after three years of being alone. It was nice.

We sat quietly for a while. But it was a comfortable silence, the sort where you just don't want to talk because that would wreck the moment. I found glancing up at Phil every now and then, only to look away after a few seconds. Every time I looked up, he was staring out the window, lost in thought. I really noticed his eyes for the first time. I mean, his skin was pretty pale, almost white, and his hair was completely black, and he had no colour in what he was wearing. But his eyes were amazingly bright. Splashes of colour on an otherwise black and white canvas. It was strangely

beautiful...

Why was I thinking this? I had only known him for a day, I barely knew anything about him. He was practically a stranger, and yet I felt comfortable around him.

Someone must have dropped a tray or something, because there was a loud clattering sound from the other side of the room. Phil jumped at the noise, looking away from the window. I dropped my gaze quickly.

At that moment the alarm went off for the start of classes. Phil stood up, and I did the same, and we walked together out of the building.

The small classroom was empty when we got there. I had never really been early before, I always walked in only seconds before the teacher. We both walked to the desks up the back, Phil taking the one next to the window, like he had yesterday. I sat in my seat.

A few moments later more people started to walk in, most with their heads down, eyes tired, ready for another day.

Jack was the last to walk into the room. I looked around, quickly realising the only seat left was next to mine. He noticed this too, and the corner of his mouth lifted up into a smirk as he strutted over.

I stared down at the desk, my foot tapping nervously as it normally did, my fists clenched in my lap.

He sat down in the chair.

"Morning Danny, how was your sleep?" he asked mockingly. I didn't say anything.

I side-glanced at Phil, who for some reason had his arms folded on the desk, his head resting on his arms. His hair was covering the part of his face that wasn't buried in his jumper, but I could hear him muttering under his breath. It was barely audible, but I'm sure I could hear him, although I couldn't make out the words.

"You gonna answer me Dan?" Jack said, leaning closer over to my desk. I still didn't say anything. I lifted my head slightly, to see that we had the attention of everyone in the room.

Jack leaned back in his chair, before standing up.

"Well, seeing as Danny is being rude," he walked over and kneeled down next to Phil's desk. "How are you going, Phil?"

Phil looked up, his face completely emotionless, but I could see his hands shaking.

"Don't fucking talk to him" I mumbled. Jack didn't move. Instead he kept his attention on Phil, who was now obviously panicked, although he was trying his best to hide it.

"Come on Phil, just trying to make conversation." Jack inched closer to Phil. The whole class was watching eagerly, waiting for some sort of fight that they can usually expect from these things.

"I said, don't talk to him." I sat up straighter in my seat.

Then Jack turned to me. He stood up and leaned on my desk. His face was only inches from mine.

"What are you gonna do about it, Dan?" he asked in a menacingly calm tone, still smiling.

"Good morning boys!" Mr Cook walked into the classroom, and Jack quickly sat down in his seat. Everyone turned their attention to the front of the classroom.

"Quiz today, guys. Hope you've all done your studying!" Mr Cook said with an annoyingly cheerful tone. The class groaned simultaneously as he started placing pieces of paper on each desk.

The quiz was on 'The Industrial Revolution', which we supposedly had gone over countless times in class for the past year, although I never paid attention in class anyway.

I pulled a pencil out of my pocket. I actually had no idea how I came to be in possession of this pencil, it was just there one day. And so I kept it in my pocket just in case things like this came up.

The quiz was multiple choice, so I just circled the answers in a pattern:

_A, D, D, C, B, A, D, D, C, B..._

In that way, I got through the test quickly. I turned the paper over to the blank side and started drawing.

I looked up after a couple of minutes. Most of the other kids were done, and were now talking quietly or drawing on their sheets as I had been or doing whatever. Mr Cook was sitting at his desk reading. Jack had started to make a paper plane out of his quiz sheet.

I looked over at Phil, who hadn't been handed a quiz as he had only been here for a few days, and who had now continued laying his head down on the desk and muttering to himself. I couldn't help but wonder if that was part of the reason he was here.

There was another girl who came here who used to do what Phil was doing. I would watch her in the mornings in the dining hall. She usually sat down in the corner by herself with her head in her hands, mumbling to herself. Every now and then I could hear a few words more clearly. Things like "Idiot" and "Stupid". I actually worried about her for a while, but every time I attempted to make conversation, she would walk away. Then, about a year ago, she was taken out of here to a different place. I heard rumours about where they took her. Everyone says she had to be taken to an asylum, tied up in a room by herself.

It scared me, thinking about that. Being locked up by yourself, driven mad by your own thoughts.

Phil had stopped muttering now, and was sitting up straight in his chair. He looked over at me, and I realised I was staring straight at him. I smiled and then looked away quickly.

A few minutes later the bell went off and everyone started to leave. I got up once the classroom was mostly empty, and started to walk out, when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I spun around, thinking it was Phil. It was Jack.

"You still haven't answered my question, Dan."

I raised an eyebrow.

"What are you gonna do?"

His tone was the same as before, menacing yet calm. It was scary, how he did it.

"Boys, come on. You can talk outside." Mr Cook was waiting impatiently by the door. Jack nodded, making his way out of the classroom. I did the same, with Phil following me.

When Phil and myself got to the dining hall, all the usual talk stopped. A few whispers were exchanged, and every eye was turned on the two of us. I gave Phil's sleeve a tug and we walked quickly over to our table in the corner.

The room stayed quiet for a few moments, before Jack stood up from his table.

He walked over, sitting in the seat next to Phil.

"So, Phil, about that conversation we were having earlier, I think you're alright. I mean, you seem a lot better than this loser over here," Jack gestures towards me, "so, I don't know, maybe you could... not hang out with him?" By now, Dean had made his way over to our table, and was standing behind Jack.

Phil kept his head down, not responding to Jack. Jack nudged him with his elbow.

"Come on, you can do so much better than him."

I slammed my hand down on the table, hard enough to make it sting.

"Shut the fuck up, Jack!" I shouted. He looked at me, still smirking. Phil tilted his head up slightly to see what was about to happen.

Jack stood up, walking around to my side of the table. I didn't move. I just stare

He leaned down next to me, so he was right next to my ear. I didn't look at him, but I could feel his breath against my skin, making me shudder slightly each time he exhaled.

"Make me" he whispered, quietly, so only I could hear it.

Why was he doing this? What had I ever done to him? He had been a total arsehat to me since I got here, and I didn't know why. And now he's trying to make sure that I stay alone, friendless. Trying to get even Phil away from me. Is he that desperate to make my life miserable?

Before I knew it I was on my feet and almost out the door. I could feel everyone watching me, but I didn't turn around, didn't stop. Didn't acknowledge anyone. Just walked. Out the back of the dining hall, out to the courtyard. I stopped in front of the school building.

I could have gone to the music room, I would have been able to skip class for the rest of the day and just stay in there by myself. But I knew Phil might look for me in there, and I needed to be alone. So, I turned on my heel and walked around the back of the building, until the small office building was in sight. I could see someone walking around through the window. I snuck a little closer, until I was crouching right under the window, but out of sight to anyone inside. It was open a little, so I could hear what was going on.

"_Mrs Howard, please listen. We have concerns that your son is beating up other students-"_

Howard. That was Jack's last name.

"_Another boy had his nose broken, and we think it was because of your son." _

Ha, how'd they figure that out?

"_Look, I know Charleston is a recovery centre, but we can't have anyone being violent, otherwise they can't recover."_

Recovery centre? More like prison.

The conversation became more muffled, and I realised that he probably left the room or something. I snuck around the back of the office building to an area conveniently concealed by a clump of bushes, and sat down.

Jack had somehow gotten caught. But how? There weren't any supervisors around and no one rats out anyone here, and they especially don't rat out Jack. I was pretty sure there weren't any surveillance cameras in the dining hall.

I thought for a while, sitting behind the clump of bushes, when something caught my attention.

I'm not sure how I noticed it, but I did. Through the smallest gap in the bush, almost completely hidden.

A hole in the fence.

* * *

**3. Everyone needs to watch Iron Man 3. Like seriously. **

**OKAY THANKS FOR READING :D and reviewing, for those of you who have.**

**Until next time, enjoy your fanfiction!**

**~Chelsea :) xxx**


	4. Chapter 4

I shifted from my position so I was crouching, and so I could see over the bush. There definitely was a gap, but most of it was hidden by shrubs, which I soon saw had been placed there purposefully, and it had been pulled up and replanted very recently. Days, maybe even hours before.

I went closer, checking over my shoulder to check if I was being followed. No one there.

I moved the bush slightly, pressing it down just so I could see the gap. It was about half a metre wide, I could probably just get through it. I moved the bush even more, trying to get leaves out of my face. My hand brushed against the wire. A split second before it did, I remembered the fence was electric. But nothing happened. No shock, nothing.

I touched the fence again, only for the same result.

They told us it was electrified. Did the hole stop the electricity?

I stood up and walked a few metres down the fence, to where the fence was in one piece. I touched the wire again, although hesitantly. Nothing. It wasn't electrified. Had they just made that up to keep us away from it?

I walked back to the hole, giving it one last look before covering it back up with the bush.

"Dan! Dan where are you?" I heard someone calling from around the corner of the office building.

I half-walked, half-ran around the other side of the building, away from the fence.

When I was around the front of the building, looking back over my shoulder instead of in front of me while I was walking, I ran into something. No, someone.

"Whoa, careful," Phil steadied me and stopped me from falling backwards.

"Shit! Sorry." I said, calming down more that it was Phil.

"Hey, why were you back there?"

"Um, I had to, there was just, uh..." he gave me a questioning look. I tried to come up with some sort of excuse, but I couldn't. Luckily though, Mr Cook came storming across the courtyard at that moment.

"Boys! Class started 10 minutes ago!" He looked a mix of angry and tired, which I suppose usually come together anyway.

I nodded. "Sorry sir."

I walked with Phil back up towards the classrooms, closely followed by our teacher.

When we got to the classroom, the whole room went silent. I froze as everyone stared. I saw jack snicker up the back of the room.

Phil nudged me from behind, and I walked forward slowly, up to the back desks where I always sat. Phil sat in his seat next to me.

The rest of class was pretty quiet. Everyone was told to just read for the lesson. We were studying Shakespeare or something, I had only read the first few pages before giving up.

Soon, the bell went off and everyone started to leave the room. For once, I was one of the first to leave, and one of the first to get to the dining hall, closely followed by Phil. We grabbed whatever food was there and hurried to sit down, and soon the dining hall was full.

The rest of the break went quickly, neither Phil or myself talking or eating. And that was pretty much the rest of the day too. We didn't really talk in class, and during breaks there were half-hearted attempts at conversation, but they usually died down after a few minutes.

The end of the school day finally came and everyone went back to the boarding house to hang out before dinner. I went straight up to my room and threw myself down on the bed. I couldn't stop thinking about the hole in the fence. Someone had made it and tried to cover it up. That means someone probably tried to escape, as that spot wasn't visible from the courtyard and there weren't any security cameras there. Probably the best place for it, really. But who would do it?

Someone knocked on the door a few minutes later. I opened it to see Phil.

"Hey, we didn't get to talk properly earlier," he said, fiddling with his shirt.

"Oh, yeah," I stepped aside and he walked in with a slight nod. He sat down on the bed, which creaked as he did.

"So, um, why were you behind the, um... why were you where you were?'

"Oh, I was just-" _Think of a believable excuse. _"I was looking for my, uh, text book." _Oh, good job Dan... idiot._Phil looked unimpressed.

"Text book? Dan, what were you really doing?"

I looked around the room, as you do to check if people are listening. Of course, we were in my bedroom, and we were the only ones there, so it was quite pointless.

"Okay... I found a hole."

"Uh, a hole?"

"Yeah, a hole. In the fence." He still looked a little confused.

"Why would there be a hole?"

I shrugged and sat down on the bed next to him.

"Well, we could go see why it's there." Phil suggested.

"Yeah? How?"

He paused for a bit, brows furrowed in thought.

"You would think, if anyone was actually using the hole to get out, they would do it at night."

"What, you want to sneak out?"

Phil shrugged, before letting out a slight chuckle.

"I guess it would be kinda fun."

And so there was our plan. Sneak out to the back of the grounds to go spy on anyone that might be leaving through a hole in the fence. Phil went back to his room to get changed out of his uniform. I just changed my shirt for a plain black tee.

Half an hour later, I went to the dining hall, only to see that Phil was already there, sitting at the same table up the back, staring out the window. I walked over, not bothering getting food after seeing what the selection was, and sat down across from Phil. He gave a small wave.

After about half and hour, when most of the other kids had either left to go to the 'TV room', which was pretty much a room slightly bigger than a dorm room with a couch and a crappy old television, which I tended to stay away from, I stood up and gestured for Phil to follow me.

I walked, with him following me, out of the hall and across the courtyard. It was just starting to get dark, and the dampness of everything suggested it was going to snow. Not a big surprise for the time of year.

I started to shiver. Of course, I was only wearing a T-shirt. At least Phil was smart enough to wear a hoodie.

I headed down the corridor of the school building to the back, where my 'hidden room' was. The door creaked open, and I stood aside for Phil to go in first, which he did. I watched him, closing the door behind me. He walked over, skimming his hand over the smooth top of the piano. I caught myself staring, smiling stupidly at him. Once I realised what I was doing, I shook my head, mentally kicking myself. _No, you've only known him for, what, less than a week?_ I rushed to the other side of the room, just as he sat down on the couch. I sat down next to him and pulled a small black notebook from the bookcase.

I had found it lying around in there when I found the room, and it was mostly blank anyway, only with a few scribbled notes written on the first few pages. It became surprisingly useful.

I pulled a pencil out of my jeans pocket and opened up to a blank page in the notebook. I started to draw a very rough, and hurried, map of the school, marking out the school and dorm buildings, the front office, the front gate and the area around the hole in the fence.

"Okay, so, here's where the hole is," I said, pointing to that point of the diagram. "There are bushes and plants all around it, so it won't be too hard to hide and spy on anyone coming in or out through it."

"Right, so we just go and sit there for a while?"

"Pretty much. See if anyone comes. If not, well..." I paused, unsure of what to say next. "If not, we go back to sleep and don't worry about it."

"Yeah, okay."

I closed the notebook, chucking it back onto the shelf. I slouched back into the couch.

"And now we wait."

It would take at least another two hours to be able to leave, seeing as it was only 7. And whoever was leaving/ entering would surely do it later at night. We tried to keep ourselves entertained. We couldn't go back to the dorm rooms, as supervisors wouldn't let us out again this late. I tried reading, but all the books I had either already read or were too faded, and the magazines weren't exactly great. Phil had found a stack of old documents and was making paper planes and flying them across the room. We had managed to kill an hour.

"Dan, I'm bored." Phil whined when he ran out of paper. He honestly sounded like a 5 year old when he did. He was pouting like one too.

"Yeah, well what do you think we should do?" I asked, smirking at how he was acting.

He leaned towards me on the couch. A smile creeping onto his face, replacing the pout.

"Play me something?"

I really didn't feel like playing. And I almost said just that, but he was back to pouting, and the way he looked so pleadingly at me, it was stupid and adorable. I stood up from the couch, grunting over-dramatically as I did. Phil was at the piano before I got halfway across the room.

I sat next to him on the stool and started playing. A song I used to play when my grandparents came to visit. A song I hadn't played in a while. I had thought I had forgotten it, but obviously not. I smiled as the memory came back.

I was about nine when I last remember playing. Mum told me that nan and pop were coming that day. I waited eagerly by the door, staring out the window waiting for the car to pull up. When it finally did, and I ran outside. The first thing I did, as I always did, was pull them inside and sit them down next to the piano. And then I would play. And they would all laugh and applaud, and mum and dad would stand in the door frame, watching and smiling with their arms around each other. And then everyone would sit around the table together, and eat and play board games, and I was allowed to stay up later because they were there. And I remember thinking everything was perfect.

That was back before everything happened. Before I started getting kicked out of school after school. Before my parents started fighting and screaming at each other at night when they thought I was asleep. When my grandparents weren't replaced by cold hard gravestones. Back before everything went wrong.

"Dan, why are you crying?" Phil's voice brought me back to reality. Everything had gone blurry from tears. I wiped my eyes and looked up at Phil, trying to figure out what had happened.

"I-I'm not sure," my voice was all cracked, "I just- I don't know."

_Why are you crying Dan? Stop being so pathetic._

I stood up from the piano stool.

"Come on, lets start heading up." I said, trying to smile, to not look so pathetic. Phil slowly stood as well.

I quickly walked towards the door, opening it and heading down the corridor. Phil caught up when I was outside, which I instantly regretted not preparing myself for. It had started to snow lightly, and it was freezing and dark. I remembered I was only wearing a T-shirt. I felt something slip over my shoulders. It was Phil's hoodie. I was going to protest, but I saw Phil was wearing a sweater under it, and I decided I would've froze to death in short sleeves. Instead, I smiled and muttered a 'thanks'. He smiled back, and we continued walking towards the office building. Halfway there, Phil stuck his arm out in front of me. I stopped.

"What? What is it?" I asked, then saw what he must have seen. Someone, I couldn't tell who, was walking across the grounds, towards where we were going. It didn't look like they had seen us, because they didn't turn. They just kept walking, almost hurriedly.

Phil and myself followed, not daring to make a sound. They turned the corner and went to the back of the building, nearing the fence.

I ducked behind a bush, pulling Phil down with me. I had a good view of what was happening from where I was, as long as they didn't look in our direction.

The figure, who I could now see was wearing a black jumper with the hood pulled over their head, bent down next to the bush covering the hole. They begun to dig the dirt out around the plant, making a heap of soil next to them.

After about five minutes, they were able to move the bush out of the way and fully reveal the hole.

_Snap_.

"Shit!" Phil whispered, rather loudly, next to me.

The figure turned around, I ducked my head down.

"Is anyone there?" I could tell by the voice that it was female. I dared to lift my head slightly, just so I could see them.

The hood had fallen down, and in the moonlight I could see the golden curly locks that I had seen many times before.

Carrie.

* * *

**A/N: Hello lovelies!**

**Okay, here is the 4th Chapter... **

**(I know I said I would update it every three days but shhh, we can just pretend it hasn't been a week, k?) **

**Okay then! **

**Thankyouthankyouthankyou so much to everyone who has read, reviewed, or anything. I wish I could hug you all (but you all live on the other side of the world :( why can't you all come to Australia? We could ride kangaroos to the opera house and eat vegemite together!) So, instead, I am sending you virtual hugs, *HUGS*, and virtual cookies! **

**Until next time, enjoy your fanfiction!**

**~Chelsea xx :)**

**(PS: The above Australian stereotypes are actually completely true so whenever someone tells you they're not they're lying)**

**(PPS: Not really but still)**

**(PPPS: Vegemite is actually disgusting)**


	5. Chapter 5

*FLASHBACK*

"_Hi_,_ I'm Carrie!" the blonde haired girl came bounding up to where I was sitting in the dining hall. She looked no older than twelve, and her hair was tied up in a bun with a few strands escaping from the front. _

_I muttered a greeting, before returning to the tattered novel in front of me. _

_She walked up behind me, peering over my shoulder. _

"_Whatcha reading?" Her voice was annoyingly chirpy. I lifted the book up enough so she could see the cover. _

"_Ooh, cool!" She skipped around to the other side of the table and sat down, smiling and giggling, like she didn't know where she was. Like she didn't know why she was here... Why was she here? Most other first time kids- no- _all_ other first time kids that came in just kept to themselves for at least a few weeks, some of them maybe shyly introducing themselves to another kid. But here was this girl, Carrie, skipping around on her first day without a care in the world. Maybe I could've learnt something from it..._

"_So, do you like it here? I like it here, it's big and I get my own room! Do you have your own room? I bet you do. I never had my own room before, I had to share it with my sister. There wasn't much space there and we had to share a wardrobe. Don't you hate sharing a wardrobe? You might not have had to in your house,"she paused, I realised, waiting for an answer. _

"_Sorry?"  
"I just asked if you had to share a room before you came here, but it doesn't matter. Hey, what do you do around here? It's Saturday, and I usually go to youth group on Saturdays. I never liked youth group. It was really boring. But now I'm here, so I don't have to go there any more. Is there anything to do? Are we supposed to just sit around?"_

"_Uh... there's a TV in that room over there," I pointed to the half open door at the other end of the dining hall, "or you can stay in here or go outside, or whatever." _

_Carrie looked around, obviously hesitant. _

"_Well, what do you do?" she asked after not being able to decide where to go._

"_I sit here." I replied, probably looking as unemotional as a brick. Carrie tilted her head slightly, waiting for me to continue that sentence. When I didn't, she sighed over-dramatically and stood up. _

"_Okay, I guess I'll go find something to do. It was nice talking to you, uh..." _

_I realised I hadn't introduced myself to this girl, not that I had much of a chance to._

"_Dan," I said. _

"_Dan," she repeated, and then skipped off to some other table. I tried to continue reading, but I had lost interest in the book. I couldn't help but watch Carrie as she pranced around the hall, trying to start conversations with people, looking genuinely happy to be there. She looked excited just to be around people... Maybe I shouldn't have been so blunt. The first person to actually make an effort to talk and be nice to me and I blow it. _

_I watch as she sat down next to a boy with curly hair, I didn't know his name, who appeared to be drawing. It looked like they were having a conversation, although I couldn't hear what they were saying. He also looked like he was handling her 'eagerness' better than I was, he was smiling, laughing, actually listening to her and making an effort. It made me feel even worse that I hadn't. The two stood up and walked across the dining hall and disappeared out the doors to the courtyard. I shook my head, trying to stop thinking about it and return to the book. I only read a few pages before I gave up and closed the book. _

_I stood up and stretched. I must have been sitting down for a while, because my back was stiff and my left leg was asleep. I paced for a minute in that corner until the feeling came back to it, and then walked outside. _

_It was just heading into Autumn, so the one tree planted near the school building was bare, and red and orange leaves were scattered across the courtyard. It was probably my favourite time of year, Autumn. I didn't get how so many people liked Summer, all it meant for me was boiling weather, sweat and sunburn. Autumn was nicer; cooler weather, perfect for sweaters and jeans, amazing colours, leaves that crunch under your feet. The only time of year I didn't mind being outside. _

_I walked around the edge of the courtyard, staring off into the distance, not really watching where I was going. That's why I tripped over the pair of feet that appeared in front of me, causing me to land on my hands and knees. _

"_Oh crap! Sorry!" _

_I stood up and dusted my self off. The pair of feet belonged to the boy who was with Carrie, who was sitting down next to her against the wall of the school building. _

"_S'fine," I shrugged, taking a better look at the boy. He looked about my age, and was wearing skinny jeans and a dark blue tee-shirt. He had green eyes, and a pencil was tucked behind his ear. He really looked 'arty', if that even made sense. _

"_Dan! Come sit!" Carrie patted the ground in front of her, and I sat down so I was facing both of them, so the three of us made a sort of triangle shape. "Do you two know each other?" she asked, gesturing to me and the boy. I shook my head. _

"_I'm PJ," the boy said, holding out his hand, "but you can call me Peej, or whatever."_

"_Dan," I said, and shook his hand. _

"_That looked so formal!" Carrie giggled. I let out a chuckle. The way she acted was so... young. Innocent. Cute, even, if you wanted to put it that way. She was definitely happier than any other kids I had seen here. It was a nice change, I think, to have someone like her. _

"_So, what have you been talking about?" I asked.. _

"_Nothing really, just chatting," PJ answered._

_The three of us sat for a while, talking about this and that. Well, more like they talked and I nodded and said a word or two when needed. It was nice, just hanging around someone for once, maybe I could get a friend out of it. _

"_Uh, it's getting dark, we should go inside," Carrie suggested. I looked around. I guess I hadn't noticed the change in light. We were now the only ones outside, and it was getting a little colder. _

_I walked back across the courtyard with PJ, while Carrie skipped ahead, twirling like a little kid. _

_The dining hall was full when we got back. Everyone was sitting at their tables, talking and eating. I grabbed a plate of something that resembled lettuce and headed to my table. _

"_Hey, Dan! Wanna sit with us?" I turned to see PJ waving from his table. I smiled and headed over, sitting down next to Carrie and across from PJ. There was someone else sitting next to PJ, another boy, but he was blankly staring at his plate, turning a fork over in his hand. _

"_That's Chris," PJ said, probably noticing me looking at him, "he don't talk much." _

_Chris lifted his head slightly and gave a small wave, before returning his glare to the plate. I just accepted it. _

_I don't know how, but we ended up talking about what superpowers we would want to have if we were superheroes. _

"_I think it would be cool to fly, or become invisible, or something like that," Carrie said, enthusiastic as ever._

"_Nah, it would be cool to like, shoot fireballs or lasers, I think I would want that." PJ added. The conversation was childish and it felt dumb, but I enjoyed it. I was actually talking to people, and they were talking back, and listening to me and it was great. Maybe I could make friends with these people. Maybe.._

"_What about you Dan?" PJ asked. _

_I shrugged. "I dunno, maybe like...shape-shifting or something." _

"_Okay, what would you turn into?" Carrie asked. _

_I shrugged. "Probably a bird or something, I don't know," I could tell by the look Carrie gave me that she wasn't happy with my answer. I was being boring. I chuckled slightly. "Okay, I would turn into a... llama." _

_This caused an eruption of giggles from Carrie and PJ. I think I even saw Chris smile. I joined in. I didn't even know why we were laughing, but it was great. I was having fun. _

"_Oi! What're you lot laughing bout then?" I turned in my spot. Jack was sitting at the next table with his gang, staring at us. _

"_Nothing, Jack." I said. _

"_No, seriously tell me. I want to know." He had a stupid smirk on his face. _

"_It's none of your business Jack!" I said, a little too loudly, a little too confidently. Now everyone was staring. _

_Jack came over too our table. _

"_What was that, Dan?" His hands were clenched into fists, his knuckles turning white. I winced slightly, as I knew what was about to happen. _

"_Hey, back off Jack." PJ spoke up. I turned to face him. He had transformed completely from the giggling boy I had seen only seconds ago. His brow was furrowed and his eyes hard. Not even shaking. Not even I could look that confident when confronting Jack. _

_Jack stared at him mockingly. "No." Just 'no'. And that was it. No smart-ass remark or comeback. Jack turned back to me. "So, are we going to do this or not? I mean, really it's your choice." _

_He was asking me if I wanted him to punch me. I mean, he was going to do it anyway, but he was _asking_ me. What? Who does that? _

_I shook my head sheepishly and turned back to the table, hoping maybe he would just go away, but I knew he wouldn't. I could feel my hands clench, my fingernails digging into my palm. _

"_Ha, wimp." he barely whispered it, but it was enough. I swung around with full force. He fell backwards, more from shock than the actual impact, and held his hands to his face. Silence fell across the whole room, and I realised what I had done. I stood, staring at Jack lying on the floor, knowing that everyone was staring at me. I tried to talk, but my throat got caught and all that came out was an inhumane choking sound. And so I turned and ran. Out of the dining hall and up to my room. I slammed the door shut and collapsed on my bed, pulled the sheets over my head and just lied there, staring into darkness. _

_I was so confused about the emotions I was feeling. Fear, shock, it was overwhelming. I had just punched Jack Howard in the face. He was going to kill me for sure. And what if the caretakers find out? They'll send me away. This was my last chance. I'll never be allowed home again. I was just making friends, I was just getting happy, this couldn't happen. _

_I stayed under the sheet, waiting for people to come into my room to take me away, but no one did. I eventually fell asleep, although it wasn't very peaceful. _

* * *

_In the morning, I was told by PJ that Jack had to go to the hospital. Apparently he had a concussion and a broken nose. I didn't see Carrie for the rest of the day. Peej said she was just sleeping, but I knew she was avoiding me. I had wrecked it. I had wrecked everything. _

_PJ left a week later. Said he didn't need to be there any more and had to move back with his parents, who lived half-way across the country. I tried being friends with Chris, but he wasn't up for talking much and spent most of his weekends in his room. I eventually just let it go. Carrie still didn't talk to me. I started to wonder why. I would see her every know and then, in the courtyard or in the dining hall, and I would wave or smile at her, but she would never reply. Was she scared of me? I didn't know. But whatever it was, I hated myself for it. _

* * *

**AN: ****Hello lovely readers of mine!**

**Yep, chapter 5... I know, I've been completely crap with updates. From now on, I will try to upload them on time, seeing as I HAVE NO MORE ASSESSMENT THIS SEMESTER! WOOP!**

**Some replies to reviews:**

**DovahFinn: Never have I seen, or heard of, for that matter, a flying cockroach. I didn't even know they existed. On the going to America thing, I would love to, but, I am poor. Once I have the money, I'll be sure to fly over and we can ride on eagles and shoot stuff all you want :) **

**AmazingAmberIsNotOnFire: After hours of strenuous, tedious and thorough research (lol jks yahoo answers), I have come to the conclusion that although marmite and vegemite are technically not the same thing, they are very similar taste-wise. Either way, it's disgusting, but it does have it's own theme song!**

**Thankyou so much for reading and reviewing, or just reading, or just reviewing, or not reading or reviewing, or whatever. Love you all! **

**Until next time, enjoy your fanfiction!**

**~Chelsea :)** xxxx


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: **

"Dan?" Carrie stood in front of the Phil and I, staring down in confusion, and possibly shock. "What are you doing?"

I stood up, brushing imaginary dust off my clothes. "Well, I could ask you the same question."

"I-I was... nothing. It's none of your business." She crossed her arms defiantly.

"You were gonna run away." Phil said, stepping up beside me.

"If I was going to run away, I would've already. I'm always back by morning."

I honestly never thought Carrie would be the one running off in the middle of the night. I was thinking it was Jack or Dean or one of the other kids, but Carrie never crossed my mind.

"So what are you doing?" Phil asked this time.

"I-I'm just going to see someone," Carrie fiddled with the hem of her hoodie as she spoke, "now leave me alone." She turned and started to walk back to the fence, but I grabbed her shoulder and stopped her.

"I don't think so." she turned back around again, "Did you think we were just going to let you go?"

"I don't have to listen to you."

"Yeah, well, I can always tell someone you're sneaking out."

"Why is it that after two years, you suddenly care what I do?" She near shouted the last part.

"_You_ were the one who ignored _me_, Carrie."

There was a long silence before she spoke up again.

"I know," she choked out, and I could see tears starting to form in her eyes, "I know. And I'm sorry. But you still can't stop me going."

"Fine," I bit my lip. Carrie wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her hoodie, which I noticed was slightly too big and the sleeves were too long and fell past her hands. "But we're coming with you."

"What?" Phil said suddenly, grabbing my arm and pulling me to face him. "We can't sneak out! I'm not sneaking out."

"Aww, come on Phil! What's the worst that could happen?" I tried my best at a pleading-like look, but I'm sure it looked stupid. He stared me down for a moment.

"If we get caught I'm blaming you." he said.

"Deal, lets go."

"Wait. I have stuff to do. You guys can come, but don't just follow me around for the whole night." "What stuff?"

"Just... stuff. It doesn't matter." Carrie crawled through the hole, and I followed through. When I started walking off, I realised Phil wasn't with me. I turned back to see him still on the other side of the fence.

"Are you coming?" I asked. He sighed and crouched down, crawling through the hole. As he stood up, his shoe got caught on the wire, causing him to stumble forward and face-plant into the ground. I stifled a laugh and helped him up.

"You okay?" I asked as he dusted himself off. He nodded and mumbled something that I couldn't hear.

By then, Carrie was already way ahead of us. I walked a few metres behind, with Phil trailing a little behind me. We walked for at least fifteen minutes down footpaths and across parks until Carrie led us to an empty street. A single streetlight flickered, giving off the only light in the area. Everything was still and quiet. No movement in the few houses, no cars driving by, nothing. Carrie disappeared around an alleyway, and I started to follow before Phil grabbed my arm.

"Dan, I really don't like this." His voice trembled slightly.

"Hey, it'll be okay." I gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze, and then walked next to him further down the footpath. I looked down the alleyway which Carrie turned down. It was too dark to see much, but I could just make out two silhouettes. I couldn't hear their conversation.

After a moment, the two people started walking towards us. I had figured out that one was Carrie, the other, I had no idea. When they were close enough to be visible, I found out the second person was a boy. A little shorter than me, hair spiked up all directions, wearing a weirdly patterned black and white shirt and white jeans.

"Hi, I'm Alex." he held out his hand, which I half-heartedly shook. His accent hinted Northern.

Carrie cleared her throat. "Alex, this is Dan and uh, Phil." she said, gesturing to the two of us, "They're my, uh, friends from school."

"Okay, well, I guess we better be off, Carrie," Alex said, taking her hand in his own.

"Yeah, I'll meet you two back at the school in a few hours." Carrie said before she and Alex walked off.

"Well, now what?" Phil asked.

I shrugged. "We have a few hours, let's just walk around." He looked like he was about to protest, but must have decided not to, because he turned and started down the footpath.

We walked for a while in silence, turning around corners when we needed to, avoiding the streets with limited light. After about ten minutes, we were pretty much lost. Phil stopped all of a sudden.

"Do you know where we are?" he asked, looking around.

"Nope, I was sorta hoping you knew." There weren't any street signs, and we were still in a pretty abandoned looking street, and I hadn't seen where Carrie and Alex had gone off to.

"Should we turn back?"

"We should, but I kinda want to keep walking,"

"We're already lost enough," he muttered, but again, he continued walking in the same direction.

After another five or so minutes, we came across a park. A really big tree was planted right in the middle.

Actually, it looked a lot bigger when you were standing at the base, as we soon found out.

"Wanna climb it?" Phil asked, looking over at me with a half-smile.

"What?" I replied, but he was already jumping up to one of the lower branches. He stood up a couple of metres from the ground and held his hand out to me. I shook it off and jumped up to a branch, but I grabbed it too far out and fell, landing flat on my back. I heard him laugh a bit, and I stood up again. I jumped up again, managing to pull myself up onto the first branch. I took his hand to get on the next one, and so on until we were both sat on the highest branch that would support both our weight. It was at least ten metres off the ground.

"So, we're up a tree," I said.

"Yeah, we are,"

"How'd you learn to climb like that?"

He chuckled. "Well I used to live next to this big orchard. My brother took me out there all the time and we would have competitions to see who could climb the highest. It was... great." He bit his lip.

"What's his name?" I asked.

"Hmm?"

"Your brother."

"Oh, right. His name was Michael."

I nodded. And the next few minutes passed in an almost comfortable silence. The air was still cold and whenever the wind picked up I shivered and my hands clenched tighter to the branch. The clouds eventually cleared and the sky changed from grey to a mix of black and blue.

"The stars are nice." Phil said, breaking the silence.

"Yeah," I breathed out.

"You can't see them very well at the school. It's better out here. Sorta reminds me of back home..." he trailed off. A sudden gust of wind travelled through, causing noticeable shivers from the both of us. "Where'd you use to live?" he asked.

"Other side of the country. We lived in the middle of the city, there wasn't many trees or anything. There was this one park, but I barely ever went there."

"Oh, okay." he sighed and I looked over at him. He was chewing on his lower lip, staring up at the sky. Starlight reflected off his eyes, making them look like they were sparkling.

"Phil, why'd you have to come here? I mean, the centre. What happened?" I immediately bit my tongue after I said it. He just closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Well, my parents split up when I was little, so I lived with my dad. My mum moved somewhere overseas and I barely ever saw her. My dad lived next to the orchard. It wasn't actually our orchard, but my brother found that part of the fence was loose and we went in there all the time, and he taught me how to climb the trees. We were never caught, so we kept doing it.

One day dad got really sick. He stayed in bed a lot, my brother looked after me most of the time. It must have been four years ago that dad died. You know, I wasn't really surprised by it. Sure I was sad, but I saw it coming. So I stayed with my brother. And it was great..." I could see tears starting to form in his eyes. "It was only a few months ago. He just didn't come home one day. I sat out in one of the trees and waited for him to drive home, but he never came-" he was choking on his words now. "I w-went to my m-mum but she didn't want-t me. She sent me there."

I put my arm around him. "Hey, sorry. I'm sorry for bringing it up."

"No, I needed to tell someone. It might as well be you." He smiled a little, it wasn't very reassuring. I pulled him closer so he was leaning on my shoulder. There was nothing I could do but try to comfort him, and I wasn't even doing that right.

"Are you alright, Phil?"

"What do you mean?"

"Just, generally, are you alright?" Stupid question.

"No," he looked up, his eyes were red and watery, but there was still that... _something _to them that mesmerised me that first day, "what about you?"

No, I wasn't okay. I never really was. But there, with him, I felt like I _was_ okay, even only for a little while. I couldn't figure out what I felt for him, or why I felt that way. I was confused. Who was this boy? Why was I there with him, trusting him so much, feeling like I had known him forever, when it had only been a week? I was happy for once in my life. I was letting him close, maybe too close... Did I- no. I couldn't... could I? It couldn't be...

Did I love him?

I didn't want it to be that. I had sworn to myself never to fall in love. Everyone else let me down, I couldn't risk it with him. I didn't want it... but I did. The realisation hit me and all I wanted was to break down, to let my guard falter and just be there with him. All of the stubbornness and contentedness seemed to disappear and I was weak. I wanted to be weak.

I swallowed hard, my grip on the branch loosened, and I stared straight into his eyes.

"No," my voice shook, but I didn't care, "but I feel better with you."

It was the cheesiest thing that had ever come out of my mouth, but it was true. Phil nodded ever so slightly after a moment. He turned his head away, looking out at the view in front of us, and carefully shuffled closer on the branch.

And that was the beginning.

* * *

**A/N: Hi guys, did you miss me? **

**So, I know it's been a while, but I do have a reasonably legitimate excuse. Yo see, up until a few weeks ago I didn't actually have my own computer so I used my school laptop for writing. Then, school had to 're-image' the laptops, and when they did mine they did something wrong and basically wiped everything. So, all my fanfics, writing, everything was gone. I had to start this chapter from scratch as well as a lot of other stories and fics that I'm doing..**

**Also, I really have no idea where this story is going. I'm out of ideas, and frankly it's frustrating to write. I hate the ending to this chapter because I can't write fluff and it's really bad. I'm still wondering whether I should continue it or not. **

**Until next time, enjoy your fanfiction**

**~Chelsea :) xx**


	7. Chapter 7

We managed to find our way back to the school in an hour or two, using anything that looked vaguely familiar as a guide around the empty streets. My feet ached from walking and I was shivering, much like Phil, who sat down a few metres away from the fence and brought his knees up to his chest. I sat next to him.

"Well, we found it." Phil mumbled. His tone was flat, like there was no emotion in his voice. I felt my chest tightening.

"So we did." I replied.

Looking through the fence from the outside made the school look even more like a prison. A lump formed in my throat. I didn't want to go back in there. I wanted to run off, to live somewhere different. I could just leave with Phil, go somewhere and never come back. But I would never be able to convince him to come. And where would we go? I stood up and took a deep breath.

"Come on, let's get inside. It'll be light soon." I held out a hand and pulled Phil up.

He stumbled a little before regaining his balance and headed towards the gap in the fence that had given us access to the outside world. I watched him crawl through, took one last look behind me, and followed through.  
We walked across the grounds towards the dorm rooms. It was way too quiet for comfort. Shadows jumped around and the wind whistled through the place, making everything seem eerie. It was so different at night.  
Something rustled in one of the shrubs next to us. I kicked a stone at it and something flew out, right over my head. Phil jumped and grabbed my shoulder, letting out a high-pitched whimper. I snickered.

"Scared of a little bird, are we?" He jerked his hands back, and his face turned an impressive shade of crimson. At least it looked like it, in that light.

"No! I was just- uh, oh shut up." I laughed and poked him softly in the stomach. He swatted my hand away and crossed his arms. "Hey, stop it!"  
He stuck his tongue out slightly as he smiled. God, I really wished he smiled more. I stared for a moment, replaying everything that had happened in the past week in my head.

"Come on, let's go inside. I'm freezing my arse off out here." I put my hand on his shoulder and walked with him the rest of the way to the dorm rooms.  
We snuck through the dining hall and up to the rooms, and stopped outside Phil's door. He stood with his back against the door, and I stood facing him.

"Thanks, Dan." He whispered.

"For what?" I whispered back.

"I don't really know… For listening, I guess. And for being here. I never really had any other friends before you." He shoved his hands into his jeans pockets and stared at the floor.

"Oh… You're welcome, I guess." I cringed at that response. A moment passed in silence. I contemplated going back to my room, but I didn't. I could tell he wanted to say something else.

"Dan?" He looked up, biting his lip.

"Ye-" He cut me off as his lips crashed against mine. It took a moment for me to register what was happening, but it was over before I did.

"I- uh, s-sh- oh" he stumbled over whatever he was trying to say and quickly retreated to his room before he actually got a full word out. The door slammed and I stood there for at least a minute, paralysed with a mixture of confusion, shock, and giddiness. I tried to wrap my head around what had happened as I shuffled back to my room.

Phil kissed me. That means… he likes me? Should I have kissed him back? It could have been just spur of the moment. He might not have meant it… Maybe he did. Argh!

I threw myself on my bed face first, and immediately shot back up, clutching my nose, which I had forgotten was broken.  
"Shit shit shit!" I bit my tongue to stop myself from crying out and waited for the aching to lessen. When it did, after what seemed like forever, I lied back down on the bed and let my thoughts consume me until I eventually fell asleep.

_I'm in a forest and I'm running. From what, I don't know. But it's big. And it's growling. And it's right bloody behind me. The ground keeps slipping from underneath my feet but I regain my balance and keep moving forward. Trees start to twist and change into concrete walls and then I'm running down a hallway. Something's still behind me. I can't see it, but I can _feel_ it. The hallway never ends, it just goes on and on and I have to keep running. Panels of the floor start to fall through and leave massive gaps, causing me to leap over them, and keep running. And the thing gets closer and closer with each step. And it's suffocating me. But I have to keep running. There's a door now, right at the end of the hallway. I have to get to the door. The door is safe. Keep bloody running.  
I reach out to grab the handle and fall into the room, slamming the door behind me. The growling from outside continues. It's knocking at the door. It's trying to get in. The room looks familiar. Yes! I know the place. It's back at home. Back at home in the lounge room with the piano. And the piano's playing, but no one's playing it.  
I call out, "Mom! Dad!" Nothing. And then…  
"Dan?" I can't tell where the voice is coming from. But it keeps calling, "Dan? Dan let me in!"  
The door. It's coming from the other side of the door, with the creature.  
"Dan, you have to let me in!" the voice gets darker, more mangled with each call. "Dan!"  
And the growling and scratching continues and it keeps calling, "Dan! Dan! Dan!" And the door starts to break, and the growling and snarling grows louder and overpowers the calls. The door shatters. The creature takes a step forward. Pitch black shadows surrounding its body and leaking out around it's feet, and two luminescent blue orbs piercing through the darkness.  
"Dan," No. "Dan!" NO!_

"DAN!" I sat up in bed covered in sweat and gasping for air. Phil was standing over my bed, looking extremely confused and worried.

"What- what happened? Why are you-" I tried to get something out but words wouldn't form properly.

"God Dan, I can hear your bloody screaming from my room. How did anyone sleep through that?"

Shit. "Sorry, I must have had a nightmare. This happens a lot…" I gave a weak smile.

"Must've been pretty bad, from what I heard." He chuckled lightly, and then proceeded to pick up the duvet that I must have kicked halfway across the room in my fit. He folded it and placed it at the end of the bed.  
I changed positions so I was sting cross-legged, and gestured for Phil to come and sit with me, which he did. Things that happened the night before rushed back.

I could kiss him back now. Would it be too soon? Would he want that? Would I want that? Maybe…

"I- I'm sorry I kissed you last night. I wasn't really thinking and I knew I should have asked you about it first or something. It's just, I really like you and-"

"No, it was fine. It's just-" I paused. He had started to blush and was biting his lip. I took a proper look at him, taking in every feature and while I was at it, forgot what I was going to say.

"It's just what?" he asked, arching an eyebrow.

I was lost. Words wouldn't come out, I was all giddy and I probably had a stupid grin on my face. God, he was amazing. I only fully realized that then.

And I started to lean forward. And I kissed him. And, after a moment, he kissed back.  
I hesitantly pulled away after a while and took his hands in mine.

"It's just that I like you too."

* * *

**A/N: I DID IT! PHAN!**

**I guess I'm happy with this chapter. I don't really write fluff that much so… yay! We have our Phan!**

**Also DovahFinn is amazing **

**OKAY BYE**

**Until next time, enjoy your fanfiction  
~Chelsea ****:)**** xx**


	8. Chapter 8

The day went by just as slowly as it had any other day, but it seemed more endurable than usual. Jack's comments and asshole-ness at breakfast, which I happily ignored. Math, English, European History, same old classes, which I spent passing notes back and forth with Phil, complaining about everything and struggling to stay awake. Went outside with Phil during break and talked about everything we loved and hated. Went to the nurse in the afternoon so she could remove the annoying plaster from my face. Complained about how my face was still swollen and bruised, but hey, no more freaking bandages. Gave Phil back his hoodie, which I had forgotten to give back the previous night. Snuck in a kiss on the cheek while no one was watching…

At dinner they served what looked like rubber in between two pieces of cardboard and called them 'burgers'. I grabbed a plate and went to sit down at our regular table. I picked up the 'food' and studied it, turning it over in my hands, trying to determine whether or not it was actually edible. I could of sworn I heard Phil growl at his. I took the smallest bite. Yep, it tasted exactly what it looked like. I spat it back onto the plate.

"I don't think I'll be eating tonight." I muttered to Phil, and he let out a breathy laugh.

"Me neither. Wanna go?" I nodded and we both stood up. At that moment, Carrie skipped over and sat down at the opposite side of the table.

"Yes, Carrie?" I asked her as she practically bounced up and down in her seat, grinning from ear to ear.

"Sit down! I want to talk to you guys." She sounded very excited about something, something probably concerning me and Phil because I couldn't see any reason she would be talking to us about it. I sat back down and Phil did the same.

"Okay, so I was sitting in here at lunch and I heard some guys at another table say your guys' names so I sort of started eavesdropping and I heard some things and I wasn't sure if they were true but then I heard more people talking about it and then people started to tell me directly about it and I thought about it and it could be true but I wanted to make sure it was first and that's why I'm here telling you about it but I don't know cause if it's not true it might be a little awkward and it might also be a little awkward if it is true but-"

"Carrie. What the hell are you talking about?" Phil interrupted the rambling rather loudly, followed by a few strange looks from the surrounding tables, which I wasn't really unfamiliar to.

"Alright, so," she whipped her head around as if making sure no one was listening, then leant in close and whispered, "apparently you guys kissed last night."

I stared at Carrie, and then looked over at Phil, whose jaw was hanging open and his eyes were wide with shock, and then back at Carrie. I guess she read the expressions as 'yes, we did snog in the middle of a hallway without bothering to check if people were watching and we're totally gay now', because she started giggling and jumping up and down in her seat and more people started to give us weird glances. I recomposed myself and cleared my throat.

"Carrie, calm down." She covered her mouth with her hands, but kept grinning so big I swore her face was going to rip in half, and sat almost still, still jittery, like she would explode if she sat like that for much longer. "Can we talk somewhere else?" She nodded and stood up, and proceeded to half-skip, half-sprint across the cafeteria and out the doors.

"Shit." I muttered to Phil as we stood up from the table.

"My thoughts exactly," came his response.  
We emptied our plates into the bins and walked across the cafeteria. I started to notice the sideways glances and hushed whispers between groups, and I caught certain phrases as I walked past. "With the new kid?" "-snuck out, left the grounds.." "full on making out-" "I heard Jack saying that-".  
Well of course Jack was involved in this.

Carrie was standing outside the building, tapping her foot impatiently.  
"So it's true? Oh my god that's adorable!" she squealed when Phil and myself were walked out the doors.

"Carrie, not so loud!" Phil shout-whispered.

"Sorry, it's just I can't help it! It's cute!" she said a bit quieter, fiddling with the hem of her blouse.

"Carrie, you have to understand that this is just another excuse for us to get beaten up." I said as calmly as I could, which frankly wasn't very calm at all.

"I doubt that many people care if you guys are gay. I mean, it doesn't matter, right?" she stated innocently.  
Phil looked from Carrie to me and shrugged, and gave me a look that said 'she's got a point.' And she did, sort of. I doubted they really cared about the 'gay' part, more about the 'they're going out so now we get to see Jack beat Dan up more' part. And that was the part of our situation that I liked the least.  
I felt uncomfortable. It was like everyone had intruded even more into my personal life than ever before. As if I accidentally left my diary unlocked and someone stole it and read it aloud to everyone else. I felt sick.

"I know… But you know how it's going to go. Jack will come up, start talking about it, make some stupid comment and I'm going to try and fight him, lose, and end up at the nurses office again. And I'm still trying to recover from last time." I said. Carrie looked like she wanted to say something, but just slumped her shoulders and gave a look that said: 'yeah, I guess you're right.'

"Dan, it doesn't _have_ to go like that. You make it go like that. Just…" he paused, shifting uncomfortably on his feet.

"Ignore him." I finished his sentence. "I know. I'll try." I half-smiled at Phil, but he wasn't looking, instead his attention was on a small bird hopping around a few metres away.

Carrie looked up and shivered. "Well, I'm going inside. It's freezing." With that, she turned a corner and disappeared inside the cafeteria, leaving Phil and me alone outside.

"It is cold, do you want to go back inside?" I asked the distracted and visibly shaking Phil. He shook his head slightly.  
"Not back in there," he said, gesturing to building we were standing next to.

"Yeah, not back in there." I thought for a moment. "What about the music room?" I suggested. Phil smiled a little, staring down at his feet.  
"Sure."

We walked far enough away from the doors of the cafeteria so that we wouldn't be seen walking across the grounds, and then starting walking towards the school building. About halfway across, he slipped his hand into mine, forcing me to walk closer to him. A giant smile came onto my face. And for once I let it stay, no one could see it after all. So we walked the rest of the way hand-in-hand, shoulders almost touching. The trip to the music room seemed too short.

Inside was just the same as we left it. I followed Phil to the couch on the other side of the room. It creaked as we sat down, like always.  
Phil seemed distracted. He kept staring down at his hands and fiddling with his shirt. I let him for a few minutes before it started to bother me that he hadn't looked up at all.

"Phil, something wrong?" I asked, nudging his knee. He shook his head, but didn't look up. "Are you sure?" He nodded, again keeping his head down. "You're lying, Phil. What happened?"

"It's stupid, don't worry about it." He mumbled, continuing to fiddle with his shirt.  
I sighed. I didn't want him to be like this.

I lifted his chin up so I could look him in the eyes, which I soon saw were getting watery, and his bottom lip quivered slightly. I pulled him into a hug.

"Phil, please tell me what's wrong. And don't say nothing because it's not nothing." I rested my chin on his shoulder and traced circles on his back. He buried his face in my chest.

"I hate it when you talk about Jack beating you up. I just hate thinking about it." His voice cracked and turned into a whisper towards the end. I felt the tears start to soak into my shirt.

"You don't have to think about it. I can deal with Jack on my own." I said, unsure of what he wanted me to say.

"No, I don't want you to deal with him. I want you to stop getting hurt." His words were just tear-filled whispers now. I kept rubbing his back and trying to comfort him, but I wasn't good at it. I was never good at it. "I just… I don't want to lose you too, Dan."

It was so hard to compose myself enough not to break down. "Phil, please stop crying. I'll try to stay away from him but please, please stop crying. I hate seeing you like this…" His shaking slowed down until it eventually stopped and he pulled away from the hug. He was a mess, red eyes, tears streaking his face. "I'm not going to leave, Phil. I swear I won't leave you," I whispered. He closed his eyes and nodded his head slightly.  
"C'mon, I know how to cheer you up." I stood up and pulled him over to the piano, and sat down on the seat with him next to me. I started playing, and almost instantly the memories flooded back.

_"Come on Dan, you have to go out there. You're the most talented pianist of your age I've ever seen!" _

_"But Miss, what if I mess up? I get stage fright." I poked my head around the curtain and looked at all the people started to file into the theatre. There were at least a hundred and fifty seats, and they were all being filled. _

_My piano teacher, Miss Hunter, knelt down and put her hands on my shoulders. _

_"Dan, I know you'll do just fine. You've worked so hard, don't give up now." I nodded and she stood back up, smiling. The lights went off and the audience started clapping. "Alright, out you go. Good luck!" She nudged me towards the stage and I sat down at the piano that had been set up.  
I looked back at her standing in the wings. She gave me a thumbs up and mouthed: "you can do it." A deep breath, and then I started playing. _

I finished the tune off with a high note and closed the lid.  
"What do you think?" I asked. No answer. I looked up to find Phil already looking at me. I raised an eyebrow.

"Beautiful. It was beautiful." He smiled, which was all I was aiming for.

"Thanks," I replied, and leant in and kissed him. I couldn't help it. But, the moment was too short-lived, and he pulled away. "Are you feeling better now?" I asked when he did.

"Yeah, a little bit."

* * *

**A/N: Okay here you go here's more Phan. It's turning into a bit of a cliché, isn't it… oh well, I like writing it. **

**I promise the chapters will be more exciting in the future.**

**THANKS GUYS **

**Until next time, enjoy your fanfiction!**

**~Chelsea xx**


	9. Chapter 9

It was really late when we walked back to the dorm rooms. Not that it mattered. It was Friday, meaning that everyone would be staying up until 3am watching Star Trek reruns on that crappy old TV, and normally, I would be sitting in my room mindlessly picking at the peeling wall paint or staring at the ceiling or, occasionally, actually sleeping. But that night was not 'normally', and I was sort of excited at the prospect of not being alone on a Friday night.  
We snuck through the now deserted cafeteria, the only light coming from the half opened door of the 'TV room' where everyone would be spending the night, up the steps and into the section of the building where the dorm rooms were. Phil opened his door, the second on the right, and lead me inside.  
His room surprised me. Not because of what was in it, but because he had actually bothered to fix things up. A mix of posters, photos, and canvas paintings covered one wall. An arrangement of hair products sat on the desk. Hell, Phil even brought his own bed sheets. I just used the plain grey ones they provided me when I moved in.

"Nice," I breathed out as I glanced around the room.  
"Thanks," Phil sat down on the edge of his bed. "I guess this stuff makes it less… depressing."  
I started pacing around the room, running my hands along the walls and looking around at all of Phil's stuff. I stopped in front of his desk and picked up the photo frame that was sitting there. It was a picture of a boy with brown hair and blue eyes with his arm around a much younger looking Phil.  
"That's, uh, Michael there." Phil walked over and looked at it over my shoulder. "I remember when that was taken, actually. Best day ever." He sighed lightly. I gently placed the photo back on the desk.  
"He looks like you." I turned around to face Phil. "Really, he's a good looking guy."  
He chuckled for a second and shuffled past me over to his bed. He knelt down, feeling around under the bed until he found what he was looking for; a blue backpack with a logo on the front that had faded too much to recognize. He unzipped it and pulled out a small black rectangular object with a pair of earphones plugged into the top.

"What's that?" I asked.

"IPod," he waved it around as he sat down. "I know we're not supposed to have them but I brought it anyway." He pressed a button and the screen lit up, and he started tapping at the screen.  
"They have touch screens now? That's awesome!" I said, a little too enthusiastically. My iPod was thin, blue and half the buttons were broken. This was all new technology.  
"Oh, yeah. You've been in here for way too long." He held out an earbud as I sat down and I took it.

_I hopelessly, helplessly, wonder why  
Everything gotta change around me_

He started to lie down, and out of impulse I followed until we were both lying side by side on his bed. It wasn't exactly spacious as it was only a single bed, so we were pretty much on top of each other. But it didn't really matter.

_I'd tell it to your face  
But you lost your face along the way_

It was completely quiet aside from the music. We had a lot of these silent moments, and they started to become more comfortable each time. I liked them. They gave me time to think.

_And I'd say it on the phone  
If I thought you were alone_

Think. What was I supposed to think about? Things usually came to me, like a memory or a problem or a person. But there was nothing this time. Nothing to think about. My head was clear.  
I turned my head. Phil had closed his eyes and was tapping his fingers against his chest to the song. The corners of his lips were ever so slightly turned up. He looked peaceful, completely lost in his own world.

_Why do things have to change_

His other hand, I noticed for the first time, was lazily intertwined with mine. How did I not realize that? I guess it was just natural now. That was weird.  
Now that was something to think about. How unusual it was to become so attached to someone in a short period of time.

_But you don't need my pictures on your wall  
You say you need no one_

I never believed in soul mates. It was such a strange concept, having one person who you were absolutely destined to be with. I mean, I guess there'll always be a person who likes the same sort of stuff as you and you could work together. But why would you want someone who is 'perfect' for you? I wouldn't want to be with someone who fits perfectly. I want to be with someone different from me, someone with different interests and hobbies and a different personality and talents and music taste- well… probably not that. But still, it would be so much more interesting with someone like that.

_And you don't need my secret midnight call  
I guess you need no one_

Phil was different, I guess. He seemed a lot kinder, less preserved, a whole lot more organized. More reluctant to do the wrong thing. In those ways he was a lot better than me. I could've learnt something from him.

_Is anybody waiting at home for you_

I looked over at him again. The tapping had stopped. He must have started going to sleep. I smiled a little, and then quickly pressed a kiss to his cheek.

_Cause it's time that will tell if it's heaven if it's hell_

Another thing to think about. We were in one of the worst places I had ever seen. Sent away by our families, beaten up, teased, outcast, jailed, blamed and pretty much picked the worst time and place to form a bond. But it didn't even feel like a problem. I never thought I would be in a relationship with someone, especially where I was.

_Or if it's anybody waiting at home for you_

It was broken and imperfect. But maybe it was better like that. You appreciate the good things more after you experience the bad things, right?

_Cause it's time that will tell this tale_

Yeah, it was so much better.  
And with that thought, I drifted off to sleep.

* * *

**A/N: So I've had a sh*t ton of assignments and homework... Sorry bout that.**

**This is more of a filler chapter but the next chapter is almost finished and a lot better and exciting (I'm bringing back a character... SPOILERS) but yeah that'll be up very soon (next two days at most) **

**Also I want to start writing more one shots. Should I do that? Would you guys be interested? I have a few ideas for them (also I'll always take requests and stuff so please send them if you have them)**

**Okay thats all**

**Until next time, enjoy your fanfiction!**

**~Chelsea :) xx**


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